On August 24, Turkish military, accompanied with some 1,500 Turkish-backed militants from the Free Syrian Army, launched a military operation to liberate the strategic city of Jarablus in northeastern Syria.

According to Turkish authorities, the operation is also supported by the US-led coalition air power. Since August 24 morning, the Turkish army’s artillery has hit ISIS targets near the city over 250 times and Turksih warplanes have doncuted at least 4 air strikes.

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The military advance began at around 4 a.m. local time with Turkish special forces crossed the Syrian border. Turkish battle tanks have also arrived at the Syrian border and started firing at targets in Syria.

In case of the success, the Turkish operation will undermine any hopes of the US-backed Democratic Union Party (PYD) to expand control along the Syrian-Turkish border and set a de-facto independent state in northeastern Syria.

In 2016, PYD-linked forces operated under the US-created brand, “Syrian Democratic Forces.” However, according to Ankara, the PYD is just a Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group that recognized by the Turkish government as a terrorist organization.